Game of Thrones: War for Westeros, a new strategy RPG, is aiming to finally deliver a memorable video game experience for the beloved franchise. Despite numerous past attempts, including an action RPG released last year, the series has yet to yield a truly competent game. War for Westeros presents an appealing premise: commanding an army of choice in a bid for control of the Seven Kingdoms.
The game draws inspiration from real-time strategy titles like Age of Empires and Starcraft. Players will manage resources such as gold and influence, generated passively by structures, to fund military units, buildings, and technological advancements. The objective is to either dominate the map for a set duration or annihilate opponents.
A demo featuring the Stark and Lannister houses highlights the game's commitment to lore accuracy. Each faction possesses unique structures, hero units, and abilities reflecting their in-universe characteristics. The Starks, for instance, can utilize weirwood trees and direwolves, with hero units like Robb Stark and Jon Snow commanding their own spectral hounds. Lannister gameplay involves generating resources through gold mines, with heroes such as Jamie and Tywin Lannister engaging directly in combat. The demo showcases how deeper upgrade paths can unlock additional units, such as wildlings and Night's Watch members for the Starks, demonstrating a strong foundation for world-building.
However, the demo also reveals areas where War for Westeros could benefit from further development. The gameplay loop, particularly resource management, appears relatively shallow. With only two resources and nodes that do not seem to deplete, resource collection can become trivial, reducing strategic tension. While the game warns against over-saturating the economy, this mechanic did not present a significant challenge in the demo, allowing for consistent resource generation without the need for exploration into potentially contested enemy territory, a common tension point in other RTS titles.
Hero units, despite their array of cool abilities, also feel somewhat superfluous in the current build. Their inherent power, especially when supported by a standard army, means their auto-attacks are often sufficient to secure victory, negating the need to actively deploy their special skills. The current iteration lacks the nuanced risk-reward of managing resource gathering against territorial vulnerability that defines more robust RTS experiences. The limited resource types contribute to this oversimplification, making early-game choices less impactful in the long run.
Despite these criticisms, the demo has generated significant excitement. The rich lore of Westeros, combined with the power fantasy of commanding its factions, has proven compelling for fans of the series. War for Westeros has the potential to be a standout title if it can add more depth to its strategic elements and combat encounters.